An Angel's Touch
by LastPrelude
Summary: Life as the Composer could be a bit bland. However, one day Joshua stumbles across something interesting... Joshua X Rhyme. Rewritten and improved, please enjoy!
1. Author's Note

**Author's Note: **

**After a very long hiatus, I've decided to come back to this story and re-write, change some things to make it better. For those you who haven't read this before, disregard this. For those of you who have read this before, chapters 1, 2 and 3 are combined and chapter 1 has changed quite a bit. Hope you enjoy. **


	2. Approach

**Disclaimer: I do not own The World Ends With You nor am I related to Jupiter/Square Enix in any way.**

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Life as the Composer was... well, to describe it in simplest terms, downright _boring. _

Of course, many people would go insane and senile having all control and responsibility of Shibuya thrust onto their backs. It was a tough responsibility, a cruel and unforgiving task. One error and the city would be plunged into absolute chaos. The consequences would be disastrous. However, one boy didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, he even maintained a light, teasing facade around others and wasn't perturbed by the fact he could make everything in Shibuya go downhill forever. He knew he had the power in his fingertips. "Cool and collected" would be the best phrase to fit this boy.

Yoshiya Kiryu was his name. "Mother and Father call me Joshua, so you can too," he would insist. Lies. He could barely remember his parents' faces, let alone what they called him.

He would often fly around Shibuya, his city. _His _city, which he devoted countless years to developing and improving. He would like to call it a seamless, perfect city. But there were no perfect things in this world. He knew this, of course, proabably better than anyone else. Shibuya had its flaws. An occasional crook in the structure here and there, waste, and people's horrible emotions.

The people of Shibuya. The city's worst attribute.

Even with all his mighty power, effort, and skill, Joshua couldn't change people, even if he desperately wanted to. There would be punishment from the Higher Plane. Tampering with other people can lead to unfortunate results. When Joshua looked upon Shibuya, he could see people's emotions, willpower, beliefs, everything that makes them _them_. It was called a Soul. When he looked down, he only sees masses of blackened Souls, tainted by all the sins they have committed; a soul pledged to the darkness. Once or twice, he would see a small glint of a pure Soul among the sea of blackness, usually a small child's. Only a few years later, when that child gets older, their Soul deteriorates. It upset him. Even after that Game with Megumi, Shibuya's core was still rotten. He looked upon the people disdainfully.

Suddenly, amidst all the darkness, he spotted a flash. Something exquisite and bright, contrasting from its dark background. It almost hurt the Composer's eyes, how bright it was.

Joshua couldn't believe it. It was a clean Soul, almost glowing a pure, radiant white. A true diamond. Joshua descended from the sky and to the ground, still invisible and intangible to the people around him. His head whipped around to search for that Soul he had spotted.

It wasn't too hard to locate. He found it.

The Soul was almost completely a pure white, with the faintest edges of black around it. Like he said before, nothing was perfect. But this Soul was the closest thing Joshua got, it was so simple...pure, white, and innocent. His knew his own Soul was probably the darkest of them all, stemming from the numerous things he'd done over his immortal life. But this Soul was the polar opposite, it was an Angel among a world of Demons, a gem lost underneath layers of mud. Untainted like untouched snow. Joshua looked to see who could possess such as great Soul.

It was a girl.

A small, petite girl, with short, soft blonde hair. Her round, sky-blue eyes reflected her Soul; they were both pure. She wore a small black cap on her head, a small skull attached to it. The girl made her way through the large crowd, dodging passing people much taller than she was.

"Excuse me...coming through, sorry..." she said in a soft voice.

Even her voice was soft and luscious. They had an innocent tone to them, a kind and tender tone.

_If you knew the world was ending, and that kind of voice told you it wasn't, you would believe it. A voice that would care for you when you are in the depths of despair. _

One person that would love you when you need it most.

Joshua followed this girl through the crowd easily, the Underground had its advantages. She weaved through people, obstacles, crossed streets, jogged. He trailed her for a long time, and she didn't even know he was there. He smiled coyly, twirling a lock of his hair.

_Yoshiya, you little stalker... _he thought to himself. Slowly, he disregarded that thought as he gazed upon the girl once more. Joshua was still watching, when he suddenly realized he knew this girl.

It was the girl from_ that_ Game, the sister of that boy...Daisukenojo Bito, was it? The brother had done reckless and drastic things, almost killed himself, for this girl, his sister, and now Joshua knew why. He sat down next to her on the bench, still looking at her. He sat gazing at her marble-smooth Soul, then at her...all her distinct features...her strawberry blonde hair, like small golden threads. Her eyes, big and blue.

Slowly but steadily, he placed his hand on hers. She suddenly jerked her hand back. A shiver went through her spine, but as soon as she reassured herself that nothing was there, she resumed her calm position.

In that split second he touched her hand, he felt the warmth and passion that came from it. He felt the smooth, silky texture of her skin, the soft hands, like beautiful flowers. He enjoyed it.

Her name was Rhyme. He remembered now. He shuffled closer to her, to feel her warmth.

He closed his violet eyes slowly, and sat there for a long time, next to Rhyme. She didn't seem to feel any presence, a dreamy expression of her face.

_Rhyme._

His head moved closer to her...slowly, smoothly...

And he tenderly kissed her on the cheek.

For a moment, Rhyme felt as if she felt something gentle caress her skin. It was not a bad feeling. Comforting, almost. She let herself daydream, and let this warm sensation flow throughout her body. She went limp, her muscles relaxing. _What a strange feeling, _she thought. _It's like... an angel's touch. _

Joshua smirked to himself, reading the girl's thoughts.

"Indeed, Rhyme, like an angel...like yourself," Joshua said to himself, hoisting himself up from the bench. He left Rhyme sitting on the bench.

Yes, life as the Composer was boring at times. But now, things would get interesting.

Even among the darkest depths of Shibuya, there was angel. The thought was reassuring. Surely, there would be more like her in the future.

A sly smirk crept on Joshua's face as he flew away.

* * *

"...and then, he came, and the whole bucket fell down on him!"

Rhyme giggled alongside her friends Beat, Eri, Shiki, and Neku. Everyone except the latter burst into laughs Eri was telling a hilarious story of a prank she and Shiki had played on Neku the week before. The orange-haired boy looked away in embarrasment, his face hiding behind his blue-and-black collar.

"If I hadn't been so tired that night, I wouldn't have been startled..." Neku muttered absentmindedly to himself.

The whole group had decided to hang out after school at the Ramen Don, where they had stayed for nearly two hours, telling jokes and wisecracks over several bowls of their favorite ramen. Most of them ate a couple of bowls and were full, but Beat was still going strong. When Eri finally finished her story, she got up.

"Well, I gotta go," she said. She strolled to the door and turned over her shoulder, winking. "See you all tomorrow at school!"

Shiki waved frantically at her friend with one had, clutching tightly with the other. "Bye, Eri!"

Neku glanced at her with his striking blue eyes."Later."

Beat looked up from his piping hot curry ramen long enough to mutter an incomprehensible farewell, and went back to stuffing himself, leaving quite the mess in the process. After Eri left, Rhyme turned to her ravenously hungry brother.

"Beat, we've got to go home soon. Mother and Father are expecting us."

Beat held up a finger. "Wait a sec." He devoured the last of his noodles, drank and all the soup in one gulp, and slammed the bowl on the table. He let out a content sigh, and then a loud belch.

"Aight, let's go sis." The two exchanged farewells to Shiki and Neku as they headed out.

"It was nice of Eri to treat us all, wasn't it?" Rhyme asked. Beat nodded, bouncing up and down, energetically.

"Yeah, I broke the record too... managed to gulp down eleven bowls this time!" Beat exclaimed, proud of his accomplishment. Rhyme smiled at her siblings kept chatting as they strolled back home.

Far above, a certain violet-eyed boy watched from atop a building, staring interestingly at the two blond haired siblings.

"Hmmm... there she is again," he said to himself. He chuckled. "That Daisukenojo boy does talk alot, doesn't he? Well, this'll keep him busy for the moment, I suppose."

With a flick of his Composer hand, Beat found himself struggling to walk against a sudden strong gust of wind. Rhyme, with her fragile stature, found herself nearly blown away. She clenched tightly to her hat.

"Augh!"

Rhyme turned around to see her brother's cap flying off his head, riding along the wind, cartwheeling in the air.

"My hat!" The boy reached for it, but it was too far ahead.

"Bwaaah! Rhyme, walk yourself home. I've gotta catch my hat, yo," Beat yelled loudly, arms outstretched.

"Okay, Beat. Be home soon!" She said, amused at her brother's attempts to snatch his hat. The blonde haired girl walked silently along the street, spotting her house dotted on the horizon. She was daydreaming, head high in the clouds. She thought about the things she could do...

"Your brother is quite the eccentric, isn't he?"

Rhyme jerked out of surprise. Her head, which was high in the clouds, came crashing unwillingly back to the earth. She whipped around to see a pale, lavender-eyed boy with ashen-colored wispy hair, leaning against a lamppost. Rhyme noticed he had a small smirk plastered on his face.

"Um, well, yes," Rhyme began nervously. Then she smiled a bit, more comfortable. "He's got his own personality. That's the best way I can describe it."

She looked at Joshua interestingly. "I didn't notice you at first, at all."

He playfully twirled a lock of his hair. "Yes, people tend to say that about me."

Rhyme didn't understand what he was saying, but she thought it was wise not to inquire.

She noticed the boy was staring at her in an interesting way, almost as if he was looking inside her. It creeped her out to a certain degree. An uncomfortable silence followed.

"Er...well, I've got to be going now," Rhyme said, breaking the awkward silence that hung around them.

"Of course," the boy said. "My apologies, Rhyme. Farewell." He held up one of his pale hands in a friendly gesture. Rhyme held up a hand in response weakly, and the two walked away from each other in opposite directions.

He had made contact. Yes, it had been contact, more or less. Joshua Kiryu walked down the street, secretly grinning to himself. Making sure no one was around him, he silently whisked himself to the UG and flew to a certain coffee shop. He opened the door and a little jingling bell was heard.

"Heh, you were out for longer than I expected. Little detour, I suppose?" A tall, lanky man said to Joshua as he set down a cup of coffee in front of him. Joshua took a sip of his coffee.

"Yes, a little detour...a good description, I might add," Joshua replied, taking a small sip of the brown coffee. Coffee always relaxed him.

Hanekoma raised an eyebrow. "What kind of detour? What was it like?"

It was Joshua's turn to raise an eyebrow. "May I ask, why have you taken a sudden interest in my affairs lately?"

Hanekoma laughed. "Aha! So it was an affair! I know you were eyeing someone recently." He settled down and took a gulp of his drink and set it back on the table. "Alright, who is it?"

Joshua rolled his violet eyes. "It is not an affair. If you must know, I had a very brief conversation with Rhyme Bito, Daisukenojo's sister."

Hanekoma leaned back. "Skater-Brain's little sis, huh? Thought you weren't interested in younger woman."

"It was not a romantic affair."

"You sure? It sounds to me you got turned down. You know, you said your conversation was _very brief _and-"

Joshua shot a death glance at Hanekoma. The shades-wearing man stopped talking abruptly, knowing when to stop. The Composer drank the last of his coffee, and set down the cup.

"Well, thank you Sanae, for the lovely chat." He got up and walked toward the door. Hanekoma called to him. "Ya know, you gotta pay it all one day!"

"Yeah yeah," was the boy's absentminded response. He swung the doors and took a step outside, and a second later disappeared, leaving Hanekoma shaking his head as he cleared up the table.

Rhyme opened the front door.

"I'm home!"

Her parents welcomed her warmly, and she lazily went up to her room. She was tired, but was still thinking about that strange boy she encountered during her walk home. She remembered he had soft, gentle, amethyst eyes. She remembered he had shining, white hair. She remembered how he looked at her with those eyes, as if looking deep inside her, into her soul.

Rhyme hit the bed and lay down, stretching. Her big eyes looked upward toward the ceiling, still lost in thought. She replayed the conversation again and again in her head.

_"I didn't notice you at first."_

_"Yes, people tend to say that about me."_

She wondered what he meant.

_"Er...well, I've got to be going now."_

_"Of course. My apologies, Rhyme. Farewell."_

As her eyelids gently fell, she turned on one side and almost slipped into a peaceful sleep when she heard a loud ruckus downstairs, followed by a loud yell of "I'm here, aight?" She instantly recognized her brother's loud voice. She smiled to herself as he started to fall asleep once again.

It then occured to her she had never told that boy her name.

* * *

_Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!_

The school bell rang, piercing the cold morning air. Many students groaned, stopped talking, eating, and socializing and prepared themselves for another mind-numbing day at school. They grabbed their backpacks, purses, and they all crowded toward the school entrance, walking toward their first period class.

Rhyme Bito held her green backpack straps tightly as she made her way through the crowd, everyone else towering above her petite size. Parting her way through the crowd, she managed to squeeze herself out of the mob and toward her locker. Twisting the lock, she pried her locker open, and began gently sorting her books alphabetically.

"Hey, Rhyme," a voice said next to her. The blonde-haired girl turned around to see her friend Shiki, dressed in her usual green outfit. Behind her glasses laid soft brown eyes.

"How are you, Shiki?" Rhyme answered politely.

"Fine, fine," Shiki replied. She opened her own locker next to Rhyme's and took out some of her books. "I've got History starting soon, and you know how Mr. Nakumura is," Shiki grinned. _"If you're late to one more class, young lady, you'll get detention!" _She mimicked her teacher's gruff voice. Rhyme giggled softly.

"So, anyways, see you at lunch!" Shiki waved as she sped down the hallway. Rhyme held her hand up as a farewell gesture and headed toward her own class, Math. Finally reaching the room, she turned the brass knob and entered the door, the smell of wood entering her nostrils. She strolled down the classroom to her seat, located in the middle of the room.

Many other students had opinions of the Bito siblings: one of them was gifted in academics, the other... well, quite the opposite. As such, many were jealous of Rhyme because of her success in school; she had the brains to skip a grade and ended up in Shibuya High School, ending up with Shiki, Neku, Beat, and Eri's grade. On top of that, she took Honors' classes in every subject.

Sighing, Rhyme unzipped her school bag and prepared for class. Taking her seat, she took out her notebook and readied herself for the lesson. Her teacher, Mrs. Kimura, entered the classroom a few moments later. She smiled a geniunely fake smile, and proceeded to talk.

"Good morning, pupils. Today we will be learning about trigonometry, a fascinating branch of math. To compliment such an educational experience, we will be..."

Rhyme, a usually alert student, was in an unusually tired mood. Mrs. Kimura should meet... who was that guy Neku talked about? Oh yes, Sho Minamimoto. The two would get along quite well. Math wasn't the best way to start a school day, and she only had a few hours of sleep...

"Excuse me," a deep voice. Rhyme turned her head to look at the principal at the doorway.

"Yes?" Mrs. Kimura said.

"I would like to inform you of a new student coming this semester," the principal replied proudly. "He's standing right outside, and just moved here recently and ready to enroll in Shibuya High School."

"How wonderful," Mrs. Kimura replied, gusing. "Come on in, Mr...er..."

"Yoshiya Kiryu."

He walked in.

Rhyme gasped.

_The same boy as before..._

The students' eyes followed the new boy as he confidently strode into the room. He was quite a sight. His glistening white locks of hair fell evenly across his head, and along with his pale skin, contrasted brightly with the dark colors of his school uniform. As he strode across to the room, the students could _feel _a confident vibe from him, like a radiating aura. He went to the front of the room, and spoke in a loud, crystal-clear voice.

"Hello, fellow students of Shibuya High," he began. "My name is Yoshiya Kiryu. I've come to this school today, as you all know, for certain reasons. I sincerely hope if we all cooperate and have mutual respect, we can get along with each other wonderfully."

The boy strolled to his seat, glancing at all the students with an amused smile on his face. The boys replied with jealous looks, while the girls blushed nervously.

He took his seat in the back of his room.

Mrs. Kimura took her place as the center of everyone's attention again. "Well, I hope you enjoy it here in Shibuya High School, Yoshiya. We'll begin our lesson where we left off. As I was saying, we will study equations based on..."

Rhyme couldn't concentrate on what was going on. She was too focused on the new boy. Even though he sat in the way back of the class, she could _feel _his eyes boring into her like drills, like the day she had met him. Was it a coincidence he had come here? He said he came here for 'certain reasons...'

Because of her?

_No, don't think like that. Get focused on the lesson._

She distracted herself by copying down notes furiously, but a fraction of her mind was aware of the boy in the back.

The class droned on, minutes ticking by ever so slowly. Rhyme checked the clock, five minutes of class were left.

"-and to end this wonderful class, we will have a bonus question for extra credit!"

Students perked up at the words 'extra credit', eager to earn the points.

"Solve this problem in the time we have left on this slip of paper, then, if you know you have the right answer, drop it off in this basket."

The slips of paper were handed out, and the equation was written on the board.

Rhyme managed to focus the extra credit problem, not that she needed it. Anyway, the questions was a ridiculously difficult one, Rhyme noticed a few students erasing in frustration and letting out exasperated complaints. Even she couldn't solve it.

Three minutes. Time was ticking away.

One hundred and twenty-seconds of pencils scratching later, no one had figured out the problem.

One minute left.

Rhyme waited for the class to be over. She counted mentally the seconds left of the period. Thirty seconds and counting, and still no one had an answer.

_Screech._

Rhyme whipped around to see a certain silver-haired boy in the back row get up, holding his slip of paper. He walked silently to the basket and dropped his paper, and left the classroom seconds before the bell rang.

Lunchtime. Students eagerly ran to the cafeteria, their hunger at its peak. Rhyme stood alone, wondering.

He had been in another four of her classes. Was this merely a coincidence? Maybe. Thankfully, she hadn't spoken a word to him, and he didn't make any signals or gestures at her or anything.

Lost in thought, Rhyme didn't notice the line was getting longer and longer, until she finally snapped back into the real world, and groaned as she realized she had to wait this long.

Getting herself in line, she looked out the window to the parking lot. There, she saw him again, riding away in a fancy black car, probably going out for lunch.

She watched the car slowly drive away and away.


End file.
